Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 29
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) does not plan to participate in the privatization of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), BSTDB President Ihsan Delikanli said in an interview with Trend.
According to Delikanli, investment in the share capital of companies in this region is not among the priorities of the BSTDB.
“BSTDB maintains close contacts with the Government of Azerbaijan, also as it comes to policy and reform issues. Currently, equity investment in the region is not among our main priorities. Otherwise, as always, we stay open to consider any proposal that may come from the Government [of Azerbaijan],” noted the bank’s president.
The International Bank of Azerbaijan, which has recently completed the process of restructuring its foreign currency loan obligations, is in the process of recovery since July 2015.
These procedures are related to the preparation for privatization of the bank’s state-owned shares. Azerbaijan’s Finance Minister Samir Sharifov said earlier that the Finance Ministry plans to begin preparing a strategy for IBA’s privatization with the participation of consultants with international authority.
Earlier, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Suma Chakrabarti said that the EBRD can become a shareholder of the International Bank of Azerbaijan if the bank’s corporate governance system is reformed.